College of Education and Behavioral Sciences News

Dr. Jason Polk, Professor of Environmental Geosciences in WKU’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, is the 2021 recipient of the Geological Society of America Karst Division’s Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Polk received the award in a virtual presentation during the GSA’s Annual Meeting, which was held Oct. 10-13 in Portland, Oregon. The Society is comprised of 22 Scientific Divisions that focus on specialty areas of geoscience, including the Karst Division, which was established in 2014 and focuses on caves, groundwater, sinkholes and related geological features.

The Karst Division’s Distinguished Service Award is presented to an individual in recognition of distinguished personal service to the karst profession and to the GSA Karst Division.

“I am extremely humbled to receive this award and to have the opportunity to serve the Division and help it thrive since its inception,” said Dr. Polk, who has been a member of GSA for 17 years. “It’s an honor to be recognized with this award and be in the company of some of my own mentors and distinguished peers who were past recipients.”

Dr. Polk served as Chair of the Division for four years and was extensively involved in growing the Division’s membership, student engagement activities, and participation in GSA meetings and outreach, including promotion of the new frontiers of cave and karst science.

He is serving as a member of the national GSA Research Grants Committee, which works to award grant funding to students for research in the geosciences.

“I look forward to continuing to serve GSA and engaging our students in all the professional development opportunities it offers for early career geoscientists,” Dr. Polk said.

Contact: Dr. Jason Polk, (270) 745-5015 or jason.polk@wku.edu

-WKU-

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